Black History Celebration set for Feb. 22

Niagara Street Elementary School's Music Department is hosting a Black History Celebration on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Primary grade program will begin at 9:30 a.m. for grades Pre-K through second featuring entertainment by Mrs. Ofokansi's class. Guest reader Mr. Charles Walker, community outreach manager for Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, will read "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson. The Intermediate grade program will begin at 1:45 p.m. for grades third through sixth and feature a salute to African-American musicians. Mr. Walker is the guest speaker and NSS sixth graders will be reading biographies and singing. Parents are welcome to attend!

As the District works to make our web presence compliant with the American Disabilities Act, residents who cannot access desired information on our site should feel welcome to contact us at 716-286-4245. We will work to get you the information you require in an acceptable format.

Fifth-graders re-create scenes from Gary Paulsen's works

Students in Mrs. Peters’ fifth-grade class wrapped up an author’s study of Gary Paulsen by creating dioramas depicting scale models of historical scenes from Paulsen’s books. The students got to choose which book and scene to re-create and the projects included dioramas from Brian’s Winter, Mr. Tucket, Woods Runner and The River.

NSS organizes parent-only field trip to Falls library

Close to 20 parents attended Niagara Street School's first ever adult-only field trip this week designed to increase participation and involvement. The field trip included a ride on a school bus to the Niagara Falls Public Library, where the parents were given a tour, met the children's librarian and learned about all of the programs and resources the library has to offer. The parents then returned to Niagara Street school for lunch and a conversation with Assistant Principal Dorothy Brundidge about how they can become more involved in their children's education. They also were given a free bag of items and information from Fidelis Care. Thank you to all of the parents who participated, and we hope to see more of you in the future!

NSS third-graders participate in worldwide Hour of Code program

As part of Computer Science Education Week, NSS third-graders in Mrs. Zaker’s and Mrs. Thompson’s classes participated in the worldwide Hour of Code program in the school’s STEM lab. Led by STEM Coordinator Ronni McGrath, our students had a great time learning how to create computer software code. The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to show that anybody can learn the basics of computer coding, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science reaching tens of millions of students in more than 180 countries. And now, almost 60 of our very own third graders at NSS can be counted among them! To learn more about the program, visit hourofcode.com.

Italian Sons & Daughers donate clothing and more to help students

Our school partner, the Italian Sons & Daughters of America, recently dropped off donations of footwear, winter coats and other clothing items, towels, hygiene wipes and other items to that will be distributed to students in need. The donations will go a long way to help our students, especially during the cold winter months. Thank you for all of your support of our school and, especially, our students!

Sertoma Club of Niagara Falls makes $500 donation

Niagara Street Elementary School would like to thank our partner, the Sertoma Club of Niagara Falls for generously donating $500 to help support our students. Sertoma members recently presented the check to school Principal Rocco Merino. Thank you for all that you do to support our students and school!

NSS students learn to "Be Kind" during local author's visit

Local visiting author Ms. Rachel DiNunzio visited our school on Thursday to read students her book "Be Kind." Our primary grade students loved the book, which was written and illustrated by Ms. DiNunzio.

Mission accomplished for fifth-graders at Challenger Learning Center

NSS fifth-grade students in Ms. Critelli’s, Mrs. Peters’ and Mr. Weiss’ classes had the opportunity to go on a field trip and visit the Challenger Learning Center in Lockport.

Born out of the tragedy that took the lives of the Challenger crew on Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger Learning Centers were created by the families of the crew as a living memorial to their spirit of exploration.

During the visit, students took part in a simulated space mission to construct a probe and gather information from Comet Halley streaking across space. They were assigned various roles in mission control and space station areas and had to incorporate reading and various STEM skills to accomplish their mission as a team.

Students also learned how to create a mock comet and learn about the solar system in the center’s state-of-the-art mobile dome planetarium area. It was a great learning experience for our students!

School crosswalks get colorful upgrade

Niagara Street Elementary students partnered with officials from Niagara Falls Community Development, Go Bike Buffalo and Cornell Cooperative Extension to paint two of our crosswalks along Niagara Street. The students had a great time getting involved and the finished product deserves high marks! Check out our Facebook page for more photos!